Young, Gifted and Bored

Collection No. 1

David George, Ian Gilbert

• Publisher: Crown House Publishing
• Year: 2011
• Print ISBN: 9781845906801
• eBook ISBN: 9781845907563
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

Many gifted and talented children are bored and frustrated in the classroom. Many are not achieving their potential and talents are going unrecognised. Written by an experienced and world renowned author with a wealth of experience, this practical guide will challenge, excite and inspire teachers and show them how they can identify and provide for the needs of these children.

Chapter 1

Gifted Underachievers

Chapter 1

Gifted Underachievers

The only rational way of educating is to be an example. If one cannot help it, a warning example.

Albert Einstein

Gifted underachievers present a particular challenge to the teacher. They are frequently difficult to identify because there can often be little in the student’s work that gives a clue to the high underlying ability. Recognition is often dependent upon the skill of teachers in spotting the warning signs of the young, gifted and bored such as those on the following list:

1. Apparently bored.
2. Fluent orally but poor in written work.
3. Friendly with older children and adults.
4. Absorbed in private world.
5. Outwardly self-sufficient.
6. Excessively self-critical.
7. Anxious and may feel rejected by family.
8. Possibly emotionally unstable.
9. Hostile towards authority – anti-school.
10. Quick thinking.
11. Doesn’t know how to learn academically.
12. Aspirations too low for aptitudes.
13. Does not set own goals.
14. Does not think ahead.
15. Poor performance in tests but asks creative and searching questions.
16. Thinks in abstract terms.
17. Enjoys playing with language.
18. High level work has deteriorated over time.
19. Impatient with slower learners.
20. Can be creative when motivated.
21. Inconsistent work.
22. Lack of concentration.
23. Daydreaming.
24. Disorganization.
25. Non-completion of assignments.
26. Poor study habits.

Of course history is full of people who underachieve. These creative and imaginative people are often not recognized by their contemporaries. In fact, often they are not recognized in school by their teachers either. Consider some of the following examples:

Albert Einstein – He was 4 years old before he could speak and 7 before he could read. He became the gifted ‘synthesizer’ of the time/ space continuum. He was often caught daydreaming and dreamt up the theory of relativity over three days.

Isaac Newton – One of our greatest scientists did poorly in high school.

Ludwig van Beethoven – He was told by his music teacher that as a composer he was hopeless and would never make a good musician.

Winston Churchill – He failed the equivalent of the 11+ examination.

Dame Alicia Markova – Was taken to the doctor because she had flat feet. Guess what he recommended? Yes, ballet dancing.

Abraham Lincoln – He entered the Black Hawk War as a captain and came out as a private!

David Bellamy – His school report at 15 stated that he is a ‘good fellow’ and ‘maturing well’, but is ‘academically useless’. He is now very proud of that comment!

Oprah Winfrey – Came from a very poor household, had with a difficult childhood and became pregnant at 16.

Noël Coward – When he was 2 a doctor pronounced that his brain was much in advance of his body and advised that he should be left very quiet, that all his curls should be cut off and he was to go to no parties!

See if your students can match the well-known personality with the comments made about them at school:

What the school reports said …

1. ‘Is a constant trouble to everybody and is always in some scrape or other’	Jeremy Paxman
2. ‘Would be a very good pupil if she lived in this world’	Roald Dahl
3. ‘She has no staying power’	John Lennon
4. ‘Indolent and illitera...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Praise for Young, Gifted and Bored
• Title Page
• Foreword
• Acknowledgements
• Table of Contents
• Introduction
• Chapter 1 : Gifted Underachievers
• Chapter 2 : Identification Strategies
• Chapter 3 : Provision
• Chapter 4 : Self-Esteem and the Gifted Underachiever
• Chapter 5 : Very Young, Already Gifted and Potentially Bored
• Chapter 6 : A Few Words on Parenting the Young, Gifted and Bored
• Resources
• Bibliography
• Index
• Advertisement
• Copyright